On Colorado’s statewide ballot:

YES on Amendment 78. Incredibly, when the federal government channels money to Colorado, a handful of statewide officeholders decides how to spend it. The legislature isn’t consulted. To prevent spending sprees that lack accountability and transparency, Colorado voters wisely petitioned Amendment 78 onto the fall ballot. It would require the legislature to appropriate expenditures of such “money provided to the state.” It would include the kind of federal relief funding that deluged the state during the pandemic. No more blank checks for the state’s chief exec. Vote Yes.

YES on Proposition 119. The Learning Enrichment and Academic Progress, or LEAP, proposal would be a windfall to Colorado’s children and their academic growth even in the best of times. It is all the more urgently needed on the heels of a global pandemic that effectively canceled the 2020-21 school year. Student achievement took a nosedive. Colorado kids, especially the poorest and most at risk, need Prop 119’s help. It would provide funding for families to choose wide-ranging supplemental learning support like tutoring for their kids. LEAP will receive a significant amount of its funding from a 5% sales tax on retail marijuana sales — a win-win because it’ll make Big Marijuana pay for some of the harm it has been doing to our children. LEAP has a nearly unprecedented support base that spans the state’s political spectrum. It includes former Govs. Bill Owens and Bill Ritter, a Republican and a Democrat known for their deep commitment to expanding educational opportunity. Vote YES.

YES on Proposition 120. How often do you get a chance to cut property taxes — while thumbing your nose at the lawmakers who tried to stop you? Proposition 120 will lower property tax assessment rates for apartments and other multifamily housing as well as “lodging properties” like hotels. If not for the outrageous treachery of our very own legislature — which passed legislation last spring to sabotage and undercut this citizens initiative — Prop 120 also would have cut assessment rates for single-family homes and other kinds of real property. That would have saved hard-pressed Colorado homeowners and other property owners over $1 billion a year. Yet, the roughly $200 million in property taxes Prop 120 still will cut over a two-year period will benefit a lot of Coloradans — and warrants a YES vote. And if talk of a lawsuit to reverse the legislature’s dirty trick comes to fruition, Prop 120 could cut the full $1 billion. That’ll save the public a bundle — while wiping that smirk off lawmakers’ faces. Vote YES.

On Denver’s ballot:

DPS school board. The latest unsettling news about Denver Public Schools reaffirms the need for a change of elected leadership at Colorado’s largest and most prominent school district. Here’s a chance to hit the reset button and launch a new beginning.  Vote for Vernon Jones Jr. for at large; Karolina Villagrana for District 2; and Gene Fashaw for District 4.

YES on 2A, 2C, 2D and 2E. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock is championing a package of city bond proposals on the fall ballot — without a tax hike — as a key factor in the Mile High City’s recovery from the COVID economy. The measures seek voter approval to borrow $450 million for critical infrastructure city-wide. The investment, as touted, will create over 7,000 jobs and have $1 billion in economic impact on the Denver metro area and likely beyond. The centerpiece of the bond package — $190 million for a new arena and major renovations at north Denver’s historic National Western Center complex. Vote YES — on 2A, 2C, 2D and 2E.

NO on 2B. This is the one misfire in the mayor’s bond package. It is an expenditure of nearly $40 million on serving the homeless — in a metro area that already spends close to half a billion dollars a year on that population with, at best, mixed results. Before throwing even more money at the problem, Denver first needs to rethink how it serves the homeless. Vote NO.

YES on 2F. Here’s the chance for all Denver voters to join an uprising against Denver City Hall’s reckless “group living” policy. The amendment to Denver’s zoning code — imposed on residents by the City Council earlier this year — sextupled the area of the city where homeless shelters and halfway houses can open. It scrapped a buffer between such facilities and schools. It permitted up to five unrelated residents/tenants in any single-family home. It’s a formula for more cars and trash lining the curbs of once-quiet residential streets; for more overall noise and congestion, as well. What was once a next-door neighbor’s single-family home on a quiet cul de sac could become a de facto apartment complex. A homeless shelter or a halfway house could open in a strip mall near homes or schools. Outraged Denverites launched a petition drive last spring to place this repeal of group living on the ballot. Vote YES.

NO on 2G. Denver’s Office of the Independent Monitor oversees disciplinary investigations of Denver law enforcement. The monitor currently serves at the pleasure of the mayor, and that’s as it should be. Question 2G would shift that authority to the Citizen Oversight Board — creating another platform for playing politics with law and order. Note NO.

YES on 303. It is illegal in Denver to “camp” in the city’s parks, on its sidewalks, along highway exit ramps and on other public property — but you’d hardly know it in some places around town. Tents, boxes, lean-tos and other “shelters” are routinely set up in violation of the law by panhandlers, drug addicts, alcoholics and assorted other chronic street dwellers. The ban needs some teeth. This proposal would let any Denverite file a complaint with City Hall, giving the city 72 hours to enforce the camping ban. If the city fails to act in the allotted time, the complainant could sue in county court and, if victorious, would be awarded court costs, attorney fees and injunctive relief. That would put some bite in the camping ban. Vote YES.

YES on 304. Over the past three years, Denver’s sales tax rate rose by almost a third. A typical new car purchased in Denver in 2018 would cost the buyer about $1,500 in sales tax. Today, the tax bill would be around $2,000. Initiated Ordinance 304 draws the line on creeping tax hikes. It would modestly cut Denver’s 4.81% sales tax and cap it at 4.5% rate. Vote YES.

Aurora

City Council. Aurora municipal government has hit a wall, and the city’s voters need to make some urgent repairs. We believe these five Aurora City Council candidates have the potential to get things moving again.